​Five years ago, June bicycled and baked her way into hearts and libraries. The story of June and her two moms seemed perfect, published the year then President Barack Obama proclaimed his support for making same sex marriage legal. Then, three years later the Supreme Court made marriage legal for all. It seemed that love is love.

And now we are here. A time when a child of immigrants tells me she knows the president hates her and wants her to leave the U.S. A time when sexists and supremacists openly hate. A time when LGBTQ people are fearfully and angrily watching their rights disappear.

This November, I will be talking about June and My Mixed-Up Berry Blue Summer to thousands of educators, authors and publishers at the 2017 NCTE Annual Convention in St. Louis. I’ll be one of the authors on a panel on LGBTQ literature in the classroom, moderated by professor Paula Greathouse.

The topic is more urgent than ever. We all have to find our inner June: to stand up to grown-up bullies even when we are afraid. To express our true selves, the way June does by baking her best wild berry pie. To try and understand each other, as June and her friend do. To stand together, the way June stands by her two moms.

My Mixed-Up Berry Blue Summer is there on the shelves of libraries, among so many wonderful books written by authors who write with courage, heart and truth.​I won’t give up on love and hope.